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Published: June 30th 2017
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Well, here we are back in Konstanz having completed the circuit of the Bodensee. We've clocked up almost 250kms, not gone very fast, got sore backsides from the uncomfortable seats, got too hot early on, witnessed thunderstorms, seen heaps of towns and villages, viewed wonderful buildings, enjoyed the lovely coastline, cruised through farmland and seen lovely gardens. We managed to get ourselves lost on 3 of the 5 days but there was always someone to point us in the right direction. The accomodation was excellent apart from one which may have suited some but not us. Breakfasts were always good and beds always comfy even if we did have to take out the duvee's from covers every night to keep cool. This trail is one for everyone. Many took their own bikes which would have been a definite plus as our bikes were heavy and hard to push uphill. Older people than us used ebikes and took their time. That was great to see.
Our trail today took us close to the shore through an area that we knew fairly well when we house sat for friends in St Gallen. The first part is quite populated with lovely homes on
the shore. There is very little distance between villages so it's across a few paddocks to the next village and so on. I guess this stems from the days of horse travel where distances took a lot longer to cover. Along the way were art galleries, museums, swimming and camping places, cafes, castles, wanderwegs, bike trails and sitting places. We passed through Altenrhein where Hundertwasser the Austrian/New Zealand Artist has designed one of the buildings. He is significant because I wear a dress in a fabric designed by him which is distinctively his. Further on is the huge newish Wurth Gallery which we visited previously full of modern art (if you like that sort of thing).
Closer to Konstanz we passed through the longest area of farming we had encountered without a village around the whole lake. It is mainly cropping and orchards but there was the odd cow to be seen. That is something missing for us. There aren't a lot of animals around this part of the world. Even bird life is scarce but with an abundance of crows, doves, sparrows and ducks.
We are back at the Barbarossa Hotel in central Konstanz so can enjoy
one more time in this bustling old town before moving on again. We are also back in Germany, having been in Austria this morning, in Switzerland all day and arriving in Germany this afternoon.
Our evening was spent wandering again through old cobbled streets (not easy to walk on), visiting the Munster and having a meal at a Brew House we had visited a few years back. It is called Johan. Albrecht Brauhaus which makes craft beers. It has a lot of atmosphere with large copper brewing vats in the middle of the building with tables all around. The craft beer is very good indeed and we also had excellent meals.
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